We at Dental Support Specialties hope you and your families have been staying safe and healthy! What a crazy time this has been. With all the uncertainty that lies before us, one thing we can control is our actions. Our responses. Our proactivity. Our plans for reopening and what our new normal might look like. Being prepared to accommodate appointments and patient needs and having solid plans ready for immediate execution.
Be Prepared. The time is now to start preparing for your reopening on all levels.
You can view and print out the Presidents Guidelines for opening up here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.16.20_coronavirus-guidance_8.5x11_315PM.pdf
- Plan and communicate to your patients what your safety and sterilization measures will be. Making your patients feel safe and secure and know that their health and security is at the forefront.
- How you will communicate this with your patients to ensure they feel extremely safe and protected when visiting your practice for dental care?
- Phone calls
- Signage for your practice
- How you will communicate this with your patients to ensure they feel extremely safe and protected when visiting your practice for dental care?
- Consider
- Who will be responsible for the communication?
- When do you want the communications to start?
- Who will be available to respond to patient concerns and questions?
- How will you address and overcome any concerns and objections?
- Work with your clinical team to ensure that you have all supplies needed and you have all walked through your anticipated daily “new” normal.
- Have your detailed and thorough checklist ready
- Who will be responsible for each line item on the checklist and the timeline
- Plan for a “soft” schedule to prepare your schedule for immediate execution at the first sign of “opening for business”.
- When is your tentative open date – go ahead and soft fill your schedule. If need be, you can reschedule the patients to which they will more than understand but be proactive.
- Are you going to “prescreen” all appointments with COVID 19 questions? (sample)
- Have you had a fever within the past 48 hours
- Have you experienced COVID like symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat with the past 14 days?
- Have you been exposed to someone who has been positively diagnosed with COVID within the past 30 days?
- Do you feel that you would qualify as a “high risk” patient for COVID?
- Create a COVID 19 patient response template to copy/paste with patient responses into their chart.
- Are you going to “prescreen” all appointments with COVID 19 questions? (sample)
- Work from lists to get your patients scheduled
- Appointments that had to be cancelled
- Treatment
- Hygiene
- Emergencies
- Appointments that are now due
- Hygiene
- Past due
- Now due
- Due in the immediate future
- Hygiene
- Contact ALL emergencies that you’ve seen since this began.
- Post op call – see how they are doing
- To schedule any follow up appointments or needed care
- Recommended treatment follow up
- Appointments that had to be cancelled
- Who will be responsible for contacting patients/scheduling
- Will you be using specific verbiage regarding COVID 19 – start out the conversation making sure the patients and their families are doing well
- When will these contacts start
- What method will you use
- Phone
- Text
- Be sure to document ALL patient conversations in their charts!
- When is your tentative open date – go ahead and soft fill your schedule. If need be, you can reschedule the patients to which they will more than understand but be proactive.
- Look at your future schedule to plan and prepare for surge of patients and appointment accommodations.
- Possibly open up days that have been blocked prior to COVID 19.
- Possibly extend your regular hours by coming in an hour early, staying an hour late
- Make sure that your team is using the ASAP/PRIORITY list to the fullest!
- This means clear documentation of when a patient wants/needs in, the best number to contact them during business hours and the best days/times. (these lists are useless without this information!)
- This means clear documentation of when a patient wants/needs in, the best number to contact them during business hours and the best days/times. (these lists are useless without this information!)
- VERIFY all insurance benefits
- There may be a lot of changes in active insurance benefits due to layoffs
- Verify active coverage complete with complete eligibility dates and current/remaining benefits
- Offer multiple financial solutions if patients present with no insurance benefits
- Now is a great time to implement an inhouse savings plan
- Think Quality Dental Plan or Kleer
- Offer payment plans
- Offer prepay courtesy
- Now is a great time to implement an inhouse savings plan
- There may be a lot of changes in active insurance benefits due to layoffs
Dental Support Specialties is here to help you with any support your practice needs in getting your schedule up and running!
- Phone support including full support, low incoming call volume and/or new patient scheduling
- Scheduling support with outbound calls
- Complete insurance verifications and breakdowns
- Insurance claim submission
- Insurance postings
- Insurance Recovery
- A/R systems including statements, account audits
- Credentialing
We implemented COVID relief pricing for our clients on March 17 and it will continue through the at least the second week of May.
If you would like to learn more about the steps to take to get your practice up and running, or how Dental Support Specialties can help you please call 330-639-1333 or click here to schedule a call at your convenience https://meetings.hubspot.com/supportteam2